A large percentage of programmers have a social life but 2 out of every 15 programmers are socially awkward.
It is important to have a good social life because it gives you the chance to meet new people, learn new skills and better understand the needs of modern society.
Good social connections help also improve quality of life and boost mental health.
Some programmers don’t have a work-life balance; this translates to having unending work obligations and working long hours with little or no personal time.
This poor work-life balance of the set of programmers rubs off on their external activities and is detrimental to their social life.
We’ll dive deep into the social life of programmers but before then, let’s start by grasping the true meaning of these terms.
Without further ado, let’s get started.
What is meant by social life?
The major components of social life are social relations and social interaction.
According to Wikipedia, “a social relation or social interaction is the fundamental unit of analysis within the social sciences, and describes any voluntary or involuntary interpersonal relationship between two or more individuals within and/or between groups.”
Merriam-Webster defines social life as “the part of a person’s time spent doing enjoyable things with others”.
A person’s social life consists of the various bonds they form with others, such as family, friends, members of their community, and strangers.
It can be measured by the duration and quality of the social interactions they have on a regular basis, both in person and online.”
In other words, social life tends to make our lives more colorful and enjoyable.
Social Life Benefits for Programmers
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Increased self-confidence
Self-confidence refers to having a positive opinion of yourself. It means that you trust yourself and your abilities. It is often gained as a result of life experiences.
Having a social life can help you gain these life experiences that in turn help you to gain self-confidence.
According to Psychology Today, around 85% of the world’s population suffers from low self-esteem issues.
This contributes to further problems such as lower academic performances, greater school dropout rates, increased violent behavior, more teenage pregnancies, and a surge in suicidal cases.
To solve the root cause of such social issues, acquiring self-confidence must be the first goal.
Programming is a complex task and for you to be a successful programmer, it is essential that you have a positive attitude about yourself.
And If you don’t believe that you can do it, you won’t be able to do it.
Try engaging in social gatherings as they help boost self-confidence and also help you become more self-aware.
2. Better opportunities
It is not wrong to say that social interaction is what opens new doors of opportunities for us.
By communicating with people, we can easily come across new job offers or showcase our ideas to a group of investors.
More connection, a bigger circle, more friends and an increased chance of work recommendation.
3. Improved quality of life
Human beings are social animals. We learn, share, express and excel by interacting with one another.
Our social life is what keeps us motivated, energized and excited.
It helps us to maintain a balance between work and fun, protecting us from becoming a workaholic.
Moreover, our social life gives us a feeling of emotional fulfillment and warmth because we know we have people who have our back, who are there for us and who are ready to go through hardships for us.
It is also a proven fact that people who are socially active often seem more interesting and attract a greater crowd.
4. Reduced stress and increased happiness
Social interaction is known to have an effect on several neurotransmitters and hormones in our bodies.
It leads to increased release of oxytocin; a hormone associated with trust, empathy and relationship building, and dopamine; a pleasure hormone, and lower levels of cortisol; a hormone directly linked with stress.
As a result, we end up feeling happier and getting rid of anxiety and stress and the chances of developing depression are also reduced.
Research performed and published in 2016 concluded that seniors who live a socially active life and prioritize social goals have higher late-life satisfaction.
It is necessary for programmers to blow off some steam once in a while by hanging out with friends and family or even meeting strangers and hitting it off.
5. Healthier and sharper brain
Social contact significantly affects our brain’s working and health.
Improved cognition, stronger memory and enhanced protection from neurodegenerative diseases are some of the effects of healthy social life on our brain.
Prof. Mathew Lieberman from the University of California, Los Angeles says, “when you’re socially motivated to learn, the social brain can do the learning and it can do it better than the analytical network that you typically activate when you try to memorize.”
Another study opines that a good social life helps prevent mental decline.
6. Healthier habits
Having a social circle can affect the habits you develop.
There is a positive link between socializing and a healthy lifestyle.
By socializing and mixing with colleagues, you can pick up one or two good habits of highly successful developers.
Is programming a lonely job?
Programming might feel like a lonely profession if you are working solely on your own startup or working remotely from your own personal space with no teammates or co-workers within your environment.
It’s up to you to liven the moment by joining tech communities in your state and connecting with other programmers.
In most cases, programming is never a lonely job because you are never working alone.
This is because the structure of company developers is organized in such a way that you’re always working in a team and never a solo worker.
Remote workers do have stand-up meetings almost every morning depending on the company type and also have planned weekend virtual events like game challenges.
Remote Programmers also travel for general company meetups, conferences or for business purposes.
Non-remote working programmers do go to their company’s office where they connect with co-workers.
It’s also nice to join tech communities where you get to connect with like minds and people with similar visions working towards one common goal.
You should attend social events and make diverse friends, your entire life shouldn’t be centered around coding.
A programmer with a good work-life balance, who understands the importance of networking with like minds both in the host region and on a global scale, can never view programming as a lonely profession.
Do programmers enjoy life?
It’s entirely up to you as a programmer to have fun and enjoy life to the fullest. Different people have different activities or hobbies that make them happy.
For some, it could swimming, cycling, or parties and for others, might be traveling.
Find what interests you and makes you happy, then incorporate it into your daily lifestyle.
Are programmers socially awkward?
Being socially awkward refers to the inability to socialize comfortably or engage in conversations with others calmly. It is a personality trait that can be inherited — 50% in boys and 38% in girls. An average person has 32% characteristics of being socially awkward.
Programmers are not specifically socially awkward, although some programmers might be inept when it comes to social interactions, a large number of programmers can still navigate properly through routine social situations, understand social and non-verbal cues and correctly interpret body language.
Social Skills Improvement
Here are 11 ways guaranteed to improve your social skills:
- Be kind
- Be genuinely interested in your colleagues
- Smile often
- Learn to say ‘thank you’ and ‘please’
- Praise others
- Stay positive
- Learn to apologize
- Avoid criticism
- Engage in debates, not arguments
- Offer compliments
- Have good body language.
Final Words
It is the choice of the programmer themselves to get involved in building a life outside of work where they can enjoy and get rid of the pressure of work.
There’s a strong correlation between good social life and happiness.
Little wonders why Ruth Whippman, in her essay ‘Happiness Is Other People’ opines that good social relationships are the strongest, most consistent predictor there is of a happy life as a good social life is a necessary condition for happiness.
In essence, if we want to be happy, we should really be aiming to spend less time alone.
Programmers should strive to achieve a good work-life balance in order to find valuable time for social activities.
Therefore, keep on socializing and taking out time for friends and family. It’s the greatest effort you can put into being happy in life.
And that’s a wrap.
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Happy Coding!
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